AlterNet is doing very well by every measure (unfortunately, the world isn't doing so well). But now the rubber hits the road. AlterNet needs to make our fundraising goal to continue doing our best work for you, our loyal readers and supporters.

I hope you can help us this season.

Working hard full-time is necessary because there is no pretty political picture to paint. The fact is, politically, things are even more dire than most of us want to believe. Human rights, foreign wars, inequality, and climate change—virtually every major problem continues to trend worse.

You know how broken our national political system is. It’s a playground for billionaires. Gerrymandered conservative districts give the right-wing veto over Congress. The next two years will be especially ugly.

The events of Ferguson polarized the country even more, exacerbating fundamental psychological issues. Millions of Americans have been traumatized by poverty, abuse, alcoholism, violence against women, brutal treatment by police, and nonstop wars.

Time to Rethink

We can’t keep doing business as usual and expect things to get better.  We—all of us—need to rethink our political approach or the trends will get even worse. We face a serious crisis.   

We have to push forward with more energy and imagination. But it has to be a result of honestly assessing what isn't working. AlterNet will focus on the best efforts in communities, cities and states where progress is happening. We will offer the best tools for personal growth and emotional health in our increasingly toxic world.

We will help you avoid corporate ripoffs. We will present methods for living more conscious lives and examples of people of good will cooperating in new ways. We will be asking our writers to think about not just why change is needed, but how we should go about making the change we need.

And, of course, we will relentlessly go after the right-wing machine, exploitative corporations and corruption wherever we find it. You can count on that. 

We need some help from each and every one of you. 

Please contribute what you can. We will do the rest.